Police not looking for suspects in Whitby homicide

Investigation continues in Durham's first homicide of the year

McCullough Murder Update

Reka Szekely / Metroland

WHITBY -- A Durham police officer gathered evidence at a home on McCullough Drive in Whitby. A 30-year-old resident from the home is Durham's first homicide victim of the year. The man was involved in a fight in a basement apartment in the home and was rushed to the Ajax hospital where he later died on Feb. 23. February 24, 2013.

Murder Update

Reka Szekely / Metroland

WHITBY -- McCullough Drive resident Donna Baker points to smears of blood that remained on her door after a distressed woman asked her to call an ambulance on Saturday morning. Ms. Baker's next door neighbour is Durham's first homicide victim of 2013. Feb. 24, 2013

Police not looking for suspects in Whitby homicide

Reka Szekely / Metroland

WHITBY -- A Durham police officer gathered evidence at a home on McCullough Drive in Whitby. A 30-year-old resident from the home is Durham's first homicide victim of the year. The man was involved in a fight in a basement apartment in the home and was rushed to the Ajax hospital where he later died on Feb. 23. February 24, 2013.

Related Stories

A 30-year-old man died in hospital on Saturday from injuries sustained in a physical altercation in the home, located at 906 McCullough Dr., at roughly 7:20 a.m. that day. Police ruled the death a homicide.

The home was still cordoned off on Sunday and police officers could be seen gathering evidence from the home and from the driveway area.

Det. Sgt. JJ Allan said on Sunday police were awaiting the results of the post-mortem.

"At this time the investigation is continuing, no one is under arrest and we're not actively looking for suspects," he said.

Meanwhile Donna Baker, who lives next door to the home where the altercation occurred, identified the victim as her neighbour Jeff who lived in the basement apartment of the home.

Ms. Baker called police on Saturday morning after a bloodied woman knocked on her door on Saturday morning.

"I opened the door and the left side of her face and her hand was cover in blood and she said 'call an ambulance, call the police, I've been assaulted' ... and then she just turned around and walked away."

Ms. Baker said had never seen the woman before and that she was taken away in a police cruiser while her neighbour Jeff left in an ambulance.

She described the neighbourhood as generally quiet and said many of the residents are retirees and described the situation as bizarre.

Other neighbours said the three men who lived at 906 McCullough Dr. stood out in the quiet neighbourhood because they would hold frequent and loud parties.

"They used to have a sign just above the front door that said 'Jersey Shore has nothing on us'," said one neighbour. "I didn't expect a murder, but a fight didn't surprise me at all."

Meanwhile, Ms. Baker said the victim was always nice and clean and spoke to her.

"It's just bizarre, I feel bad, a young man lost his life," she said.

"We're just saddened by the death," added her partner Brock Jordan.

As Ms. Baker closed her door, she found another smudge of blood, just under her door handle, left by the young woman. Ms. Baker had cleaned her door after police finished gathering evidence on her property, but had missed that spot.

Reporter Reka Szekely covers the City of Oshawa for Metroland Media Group’s Durham Region Division. Reka's social media column appears every other week. Contact her on Facebook, Twitter (@rszekely)